Waverton Investment Management Ltd Sells 225 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL)

Waverton Investment Management Ltd lessened its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL) by 3.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,557 shares of the company’s stock after selling 225 shares during the quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $521,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 81,303,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,391,261,000 after buying an additional 588,230 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,518,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,868,723,000 after acquiring an additional 324,683 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter worth about $912,375,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,497,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $863,447,000 after purchasing an additional 993,328 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 9,200,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $806,015,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040,604 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CL shares. Wall Street Zen cut Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $108.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $86.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Colgate-Palmolive presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.69.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:CL opened at $87.85 on Friday. Colgate-Palmolive Company has a 1 year low of $85.32 and a 1 year high of $109.30. The company has a market capitalization of $71.19 billion, a PE ratio of 24.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.66 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $90.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $90.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.96, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $4.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.92 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 14.52% and a return on equity of 461.04%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.86 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive Company will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 20th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Colgate-Palmolive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.76%.

Colgate-Palmolive Company Profile

Colgate-Palmolive Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells consumer products in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments: Oral, Personal and Home Care; and Pet Nutrition. The Oral, Personal and Home Care segment offers toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwash, bar and liquid hand soaps, shower gels, shampoos, conditioners, deodorants and antiperspirants, skin health products, dishwashing detergents, fabric conditioners, household cleaners, and other related items.